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India has executed Yakub Memon, the man convicted of financing the deadly 1993 Mumbai bombings, the Maharashtra state government has confirmed.

Memon was hanged at a prison in Nagpur in the western state, BBC reported.

The serial blasts killed 257 people, and were allegedly to avenge the killing of Muslims in riots a few months earlier. India rarely carries out death sentences - only three people have been executed since 2004.

There was tight security around the Nagpur prison on Thursday morning, and in parts of the state capital, Mumbai. The March 1993 blasts targeted a dozen sites, including the Bombay Stock Exchange, the offices of national carrier Air India and a luxury hotel.
Memon was hanged hours after the supremecourt dismissed a final plea to stay the sentence.

His lawyers had argued that executions can only be carried out after seven days have passed following the rejection of a mercy petition.

But in a pre-dawn hearing, the court ruled that because his first mercy petition had been rejected last year, the execution met the required rules, said media reports.